The Board denied the Veteran's claim of service connection for a bilateral eye condition, finding that his myopic astigmatism is not a disease or injury in the meaning of VA compensation purposes and thus cannot be service connected.
The deciding factor: The Veteran's bilateral myopic astigmatism was found to be a refractive error of the eye, which does not qualify as a disability for VA compensation purposes without a superimposed disease or injury. The Board concluded that there is no indication in the record that his need for prescription lenses during service was due to a superimposed disease or injury.
- Claimed conditions
- bilateral myopic astigmatism
- How they argued it
- Direct service connection
- Exposure basis
- None
- Rating
- Not verified here — check the original decision
- Decision date
- July 16, 2019
- Citation
- 19154531
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Read the original VA decision (opens in a new tab) using citation 19154531.
What this means for you
A final Board denial may be appealed to the U.S. Court of Appeals for Veterans Claims, generally within 120 days of the Board mailing date. A Supplemental Claim with new and relevant evidence is a separate option. Another Higher-Level Review of the Board decision is not available. Check your own notice: this historical decision does not set your deadline.
What you can do next
Use your own notice and decision stage. A remanded issue is not a final court-appealable denial. VA review guidance and CAVC filing instructions (U.S. federal; reviewed October 7, 2026).
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Whole decision: Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to insufficient development of evidence regarding service connection for eye injuries. The veteran will be provided another VA examination and medical opinion.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board has denied the veteran's claims for service connection for bilateral myopic astigmatism and granted his claim for service connection for retropatellar pain syndrome. The Board found that the veteran's myopic astigmatism was a congenital defect not aggravated by service, while finding continuity of symptomatology for his retropatellar pain syndrome.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the veteran's claims for increased ratings for his service-connected lumbar myositis, psychoneurosis and conversion hysteria, residuals of shrapnel wounds of the left thigh and pelvis with retained foreign bodies and scars, and residuals of shell fragment wounds of the right thigh and left leg. The veteran was also denied entitlement to a total disability rating based on individual unemployability due to service-connected disabilities.
- Whole decision: Denied
The Board denied the Veteran's claim for an initial evaluation in excess of 10 percent for his service-connected coronary artery disease, finding that the evidence did not support a higher rating based on the severity of his condition.
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